Urologist Update!

Daniel went to his first urology appointment today. Unfortunately I couldn't go with him, but I made sure he had all of the appropriate paperwork and forms he needed, including a copy of his Semen Analysis (SA). Daniel told me that the urologist was pretty quick to suggest after reviewing the SA that he could have high estrogen levels, which are often caused by (and a symptom of) being overweight.

Both men and women produce estrogen and testosterone from the pituitary glands. So we all have both in our system, but in women the estrogen is dominant thanks to our ovaries, and in men testosterone is dominant thanks to the testes. Fat can actually turn testosterone into estrogen (who knew?!). Too much estrogen can damage sperm. This would explain why his count and volume are good, but the  motility is low. We will need blood work to confirm this of course, but I think it makes sense. I still need to do some research to see if this could impact morphology as well.

The urologist also examined Daniel's "fellas" and didn't really find anything concerning there, which is good. We were both worried about a varicocele but it sounds like that's not the issue. So no surgery! The urologist suggested that Daniel lose about 30 lbs and hopefully that will help decrease estrogen levels.

I'm curious to see what the blood work shows and if weight loss is the answer. It sounds simple to me but I'm not the one who has to lose weight, so I hope Daniel can stay motivated and make a commitment to getting healthy and losing weight to better our chances of conceiving. I know he wants this as badly as I do so I will try my best to support him and even work out with him if needed.

I'm so happy that we didn't get bad news today! I really feel like this is something we can work with. Like I said, we don't know for sure if the estrogen is the issue but after reading up on it I think it fits. We'll find out in about 3 weeks when Daniel gets the blood work done. I'll keep you all posted!